wheeler



f (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. W. WHEELER, Deo-(1.

G. H. WHEELER, Administratrix. l j MACHINE FOR ARTIFICIAL REFRIGERATION.- No. 441,995. Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

l O O 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. N. W. WHEELER, Deed. G. H. WHEELER, Administratrix. MACHINE FOR ARTIFICIAL REPRIGBRATIDN. No. 441,995. Patented Deo. 2, 1890.

(No Model.)

non cnm'kessnn 'ro-roil of LUOLER T0 GLASS GAUGE 4 w/mfssfs: E

(No Model.)

N. W. WEEELEE, Deod.

G. H. WHEELER, Administratrix. MACHINE FOR ARTIFICIAL REFRIGBRATION.

4 sheets-,sheet 3.

Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

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. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLARA HOPE WHEELER, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., ADMINIsTRATRIX OF NORMAN W. WHEELER, DEOEAsED.

MACHINE FOR ARTIFICIAL REFRIGERATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 441,995, dated December 2, 1890. Application filed November 18, 1889. Serial No. 330,697. (No model.)

T0 a/ZZ wle/0m t may concern.-

Be it known that NORMAN W. lVHEELER, (deceased,) late a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, did in his lifetime invent certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Apparatus, of which'the following is a specification.

The said invention relates to improvements in those refrigerating apparatus in which an anhydrous ammonia or other liqueiable but highly-volatile iiuid, having been compressed by a pump, has the heat, rendered sensible by such compression, abstracted by a cooling medium, the fluid being then permitted to as to develop an intense cold.

The apparatus is especially designed to be mainly automatic in its` operation, so as to dispense with the constant services of a skilled engineer, and from its compaetness of construction it is peculiarly adapted for use,

in confined spaces, such as between decks on shipboard. l Smallinterjectious of mineral oil 0rr other' suitable lubricant are employed to prevent gas-leakage at the numerous joints required in suchapparatus to lubricate the compressor-piston, die., to take up, absorb, or rendcad-space in In orderthat suction sideof coinpletelyklivested of ammoniaeal vapor,`and that the condenser rand expansion coils may not become lined with lubricant a necessity equally rises that the ammonia, after escaping from the compressor, shall be completely purified from lubricant. `Suitable means are therefore provided by me whereby immediately after each discharge the ammoniacal vapor is relieved of its atomized lubricant.

' In some refrigerating apparatus heretofore employed the lubricant is allowed to escape r from the original high pressure of compression, and is then passed through a separate pump actuated from fsomemoving part of the compressor, and is so passed back into the compressor'. In other such apparatus theoil is simply allowed to How back into the compressor, escaping from the pressure of compression existing` in the system through a throttling device. In yet others it is allowed to flow back, as aforesaid, in an interrupted stream Whose pulsations are so regulated as to deliver the desired quantity by means of intermittent devices actuated from the compressordriving machinery. In'all these cases the flow of lubricantis restrained Or retarded by the customary normally-open ihrottl'ing device, and when the compressor eea-ses its motion the oil flow nevertheless continues until stopped bythe engineerin charge.v Unless thus stopped by the iutendent, Oil may continue to iiow into the now quiescent compressor, and even iill the same with noncom-` pressible liquid, which prevents restarting of the machinery or subjects it to the liability to rupture On starting, so that even in those forms which have intermittent oil-flow there is no assurance that these defective actions -will not take place because the compressorpump is as likely to be stopped at the Open as at the closed condition of the valves.

The invention is designed to avoid the above and other defects, hereinafter' stated.

In the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecitication, Figure I represents a refrigerating apparatus embodying the said NORMAN W. WHEELERs improvements, the

same being for convenient illustration de.

veloped on a common vertical plane. Fig. II is avertieal section, and Fig. llI is a horizontal section on the line III III, of the said NOR- MAN XV. WHEELERS device for elimination from the compressed vapor of the atomized lubricant. Fig. IV is an end elevation of the automatic Oil-regulator and cut-off. Fig. V is a section of the same onthe line V V. Fig. V I is an end elevation of the expansion-valve. Fig. VII is a section of the same on the line VII VII, the valve being represented open. I

Fig. VIH is a detached representation of the expansioirv'alve in its closed condition. Fig. IX is a diagrammatic representation of the compressor and of the connected ammonia, oil, and brine circuit-s. p One important feature of the said NORMAN W. WHEELERs system is the device A for IOO eliminating from the compressed ammoniava'por the atmized lubricant that has become mechanically suspended in it within the compressor. \Vith this `object in view a portion l of the discharge-way 2 of a compressorpump of any suitable construction consists of a vertically-arranged closed spiral passage 3, which communicates above with the said discharge-way and below with an oil well or receptacle 4, which at or near its lower end commu- Ynicates by a pipe-24 with thewoil-cooling system B at Lr. The said spiral passage entirely incloses an Vascending vertical tine or neck t5, which has below free communication with the upper portion of the said oil-well and has above free communication with the passage 9. The mingled ammonia-vapor and atomized oil flowing rapidly along and down the spiral passage 3 acquires a centrifugal force which avails the momentum of the oil to lproject it outward against the wall of the said passage which is farthest from the axis of the coil, causing attrition of the oil globules, their retention by capillary attraction on said passage-wall, and their precipitation thence into the oil-well. At the same time the comparative levity of the thus-clarified vapor causes it to ascend and escape through kthe vertical central flue 6 into the passage O for com pressed ammonia. rPhe passage 9 h asa check or piston valve 7 in a constricted portion or throat S, which valve (by means of the pressure in front of it, aided by a spring .14) operates to close the said passage, except when the pulsation out-put f rom the compressor momentarily increases the pressure above said valve suflciently to open said throat and to pump an additional charge of ammonia-vapor out at the point l* and into the condenser l).

The office of the valve 7'isthreefold. It operates in the first place lto periodically check the outow of the hot and highly-compressed ammonia-Vapor to the condenser system. In case of rupture or leakage of any part of Vthe ammonia-circuit back of it the valve 7 operates as a check-valve to prevent the escape and explosion of liquid ammonia, which has been the cause of the most serious casualties in refrigerating plants, and in addition to these primary functions it is utilized to dominate another valve, which regnlates the injection of cold oil into the coinpressor-cylinder and by its return to effectually shut and keep shut .the said oil flow into the compressor until a forward stroke of the .compressor-piston regulatesthe above action.

A stem 10 serves to limit the upstroke of the valve 7, and thus insure its efficiency as a vcheck-valve, and a stem 11, which `extends downward to contact with the oil-valve 15,

-causes said valve to be dominated -by the said valve 7 in the manner stated. The liquid ammonia is retained in the U-.shaped well 28 at the bottom of the condenser and is admitted'to Vthe expansion-'coilS-B through the expansion-valve G, in which coils, being permitted to expand, it absorbs and renders latent heat. from the surrounding brine, so as to cool the latter, whence it returns through pipe 2i) to the compressor, thus completing the ammonia-circuit. A pipe 30 from -a source of liquid ammonia is tappeti from time to time to make good the loss of ammonia by leakage, &c. from the brine-tanks F to the room, tank, or inclosurc to be cooled, and a pipe S receiving back the spent brine, thuscompleting the brine-circuit. Il. From the bottom of the oilchamber the refrigerated oil passes through stop-cock 25, cold-oil pipe 26,-and junctions Y27 of the gas and oil regulator C at each opening of the valve 13, as above explained. The oil thence iiows out at y and` through a continuation of the pipe 26 by throttle 16 back into thc compressor-cylinder at je, thus completing the oil-circuit. The oil, beingcold and free lfrom occluded gas and its injection occurring only after the compressor has received its full complement of gas from the expansion-coils, does not interfere with the suction-vacuum and suction action.

A pipe r conveys cold brine.

In compressing such vapors as are coinmonly used in artificial refrigeration complete compression is reached as the compressorpiston approaches the terminus of its effective stroke, and just before the opening of the efflux-valve permits escape of compressed vapor into the passage for compressed ammonia, and hence the operation of the controlling-valve and cut-off 13 in the return-oil pipe takes place only after compression at the pump is completed and discharge into the compressed-vapor passage has begun at any stroke of the compressor-pump.v It therefore follows that when equipped with my said automatic regulator the oil injection will necessarily possess the intermittent or pulsative character which, by atomizing the injection, has the effect of distributing the oil equably and economically over theinterior surfaces of the complessor-cylinder. Preferably the oil is thus forced in intermittent jets into the com pressor-cylinderthrough a nozzle (nothere shown) of size just suiiicient to pass the greatest injection required, and means of diminution o'f injectionv at the intendants discretion is f urnishcd by a throttle 16.

29 29 are pressure indicators or gages for the outgoing and returning vapor passages, respectively.

The invention of the said" NORMAN lV.-

WHEELER further relates to a device G to re- IOO IIO

place the common hand-worked expansion- .of being increased or diminished by means of a screw 19, and which valve is opened by the vpressure of the accumulatingliquid ammonia acting to momentarily overcome said spring differences of pressure exist on its opposite moisture.

and said back-pressure. Escape of ammonia at screw 19 prevented by any suitable means-such, for instance, as a cap and luting-gasket .19 19". The office and action oi' the adjustable spring 18 are to automatically arrest the entrance ot' liquid ammonia to the expansion-coils whenever the pressure, and consequently the temperature therein, rises beyond a predetermined point, such as to interfere with their heat-abstracting functions on the brine or other surrounding medium. Generally the adjustment is such as to keep down the pressure in the expansion-coils to just such slight excess over that of the atmosphere for the time being,r as to prevent the entrance into the circulation of any air or A further necessity for means of adjustment of tension of the spring 1S arises from the considerable vicissitudes of working-pressure in the condensers, varying as much as eighty pounds per square inch, consequent on the varying temperatures of the tank-Water at differentseasons and changing atmospheric conditions.

To lessen the rapidly-destructivc Wear or scour of the expansion-valve whenever great sides, the invention of said YHEEL'ER includes a provision as follows: A downwardlyextending stem of said valve occupying guides 22 23 holds the valve to proper alignment While permitting its proper play. The valve-seat entrance is prolonged and contains a series of constricted portions or throats 20, which coact with a series of collars 24 on said valvestem to partially close or Wire-draw the entrance-passage in proportion to the violence of the entering stream of liquid ammonia.

The invention of said NORMAN W. /VHEEL- ER has been described in its application to that class of refrigerating devices in which an intervening brinecircuit, cooled by contact with the expansion-coils, is made the medium of refrigerating action in the room or other inclosure to be cooled; but said invention is manifestly applicable to those forms of refrigerators in which such expanson-coils themselves occupy such inclosure without the interventionof a brine-circuit.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed as new therein is l. 1n machines for artificial'refrigeration which depend on the expansion of a previously compressed and cooled ammoniacal or equivalent vapor, the means for separating the liquid from the gaseous portions,wl1ich consist of the combination of an oil-receptacle 4, into whose upper part the vapor and its occluded oil are forced continuously downward, with a closed spiral duct or passage 3, which surrounds and communicates at its lower end with a cent-ral vertical neck or flue G for the escape of vapor, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for artificial refrigeration, the combination, with a compressor, of a spring-closed am monia-valve through which is discharged compressed ammonia intermittently under the pulsative action which-proceeds from the compressor output, and an integrally-attached oil-return valve dominated by said ammonia-valve, in the manner and lfor the purpose explained.

3. In a refrigerating plant tit for the use of a liquetiable refrigerant and of a lubricant,

the combination of a vapor-compressor, aA

valve for outgoing ammonia, operated automatirally by the compressor output, and a valve for returning lubricant integral with and dominated by said ammonia-valve, subsantially as set forth.

4. In a refrigeratin g-machin e, the combinaltion, with ammonia-passage having a series of constricted portions 20, of spring-depressed ammonia-valve 7, whose stem 2l has a series of collars 24, which slide loosely within said constricted portions, as set forth.

5. The automat-ic throttle for the liquid ammonia, consisting of valve 17, normally closed by spring 18, having regulating-screw 19, said valve having a stem 2l, which is encircled by one or more collars or short pistons 24, that slide loosely within corresponding contracted barrels or throats 20 in the ammonia-passage, substantially as set forth.

CLARA HOPE WHEELER, Admnts'h'arr of Norman lV. Tlf/Leder, fle'A ceased.

lVitnesses:

GEO. II. KNIGHT, HERBERT KNIGHT. 

